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You have no idea how happy I am to finally see some definite changes in my shoulders. The past few weeks I have been focusing on strengthening my upper body when weightlifting and it’s coming along nicely. My lats and deltoids are getting more defined (and stronger).

The definition that is developing in the top of my abs has also been a recent change and I feel alongside targeted training, my change of protein and increasing intake has been helping exponentially.

Another positive from drinking Sci-MX regularly I’ve noticed is that I have a lot more energy; I’m not suffering with cravings, moodswings or lethargy since I’ve started having a minimum 2 servings per day.

Yesterday was my last weights day of the week and it was a gentle one because I still had DOMS from Monday.

And that was enough for me to end the training session on. After a nice relaxing long weekend in Wales (with an Insanity work out if I get the exercise itch), I will be back to kicking my own ass on Tuesday!

Since Dan and I have been lifting together as of late, he noticed that I’m recovering a bit too easily from our work outs. Admittedly, without realising, I had reached a bit of a plateau where I wasn’t increasing my weight and thus not challenging my body.

Today is the first day I’ve been pushed to the point where I had muscle fatigue and had to finish earlier than planned and I can actually feel the tops of my shoulders and biceps ache. Dan’s reassured me that your biceps are muscles you can really fatigue without damaging them (within reason obviously) and he also told me he could see some definition as I was doing my reps which is all kinds of awesome. Make room noodle arms, we’ve finally got some muscles coming in!

Bicep curls (EZ bar) 12.5kg – 20 reps in 5/10/5 sets
Upright row 12.5kg – 20 reps in 4 sets of 5
Military press 12.5kg – 13 reps and then I had to quit because my arms just did not want to cooperate.

I’m somewhat scared that if I don’t have DOMS tomorrow that he’ll just increase my weights for the next time, haha. It’s awesome having someone knowledgeable to work out with even if he does kick my butt if I back-chat. 🙂

I’m having the weekend off as it is a busy one and next week I will definitely be incorporating Insanity work outs into my work out week alongside the weights.

My life has been so hectic as of late I feel like my feet have barely touched the ground. Dan’s moved a lot of his stuff over so he’s officially living with me which is really exciting. We’ve been busy clearing space in my house, looking after my mum who’s still resting her foot after an operation and in between all that I’m trying to get some crochet commissions and digital art done!

On Wednesday we did weights and after a discussion Dan and I had about a girl on TV who was slim but had bulky arms. It was clear she worked out but I couldn’t understand why she had big arms but no muscle definition, to which Dan explained to me that some people prefer to build mass rather than size and definition. He recommended low weights but high reps for me so that’s what I did.

I’ve also swapped my protein intake to Sci-MX Ultragen Whey Protein and I gotta say, I’m already impressed. The two flavours I’ve tried have both been delicious but I went with strawberry and I’m now having it every day as a mid-morning snack and before bed (to stop me eating a lot before I sleep) and after training. Now I’m actually on genuine protein I’m excited to see what progress I can make with a properly fuelled body.

Yesterday was a rest day so today at some point we’ll be back at the weights again. I’ve admittedly not done any Insanity work outs for three weeks or so but once things have calmed down in my house I’m sure I’ll be balancing my lifting with some ass-kicking cardio.

So, Dan really put me through my paces yesterday! With his fitness instructor qualification, it was really great to train with him for the first time so I could have someone knowledgeable help me work on my form. He’s also given me ways forward to strengthen my upper body so I can actually do push ups (my absolute nemesis). It helped so much having him there showing me correct form and I didn’t lift that much weight-wise but I feel like for the first time I actually utilised the muscles as they are supposed to be.

I’ve also had some tester sachets of scimix protein shakes to try out and I’m officially in love, particularly with the strawberry flavoured one. They’ve brought out a new powder which I can’t remember the name of but it is geared towards muscle definition and toning rather than bulk so I can’t wait to buy a big tub when I can afford it! I recently found out that the company I bought my supposed gold standard powder from is being done for counterfeit products so I can’t help but wonder how beneficial it’ll be once I’m on genuine high quality protein.

Tomorrow I’ll be doing weights again because on Thursday we’ll be back in Wales so I will only be able to do Insanity or running. I’m still buzzing about being able to use weights at home and I’m excited about finally being able to build my upper body like I’ve always wanted to.

As you can see, I’m back from a little blogging holiday. My tattoo healed great and I’ve been so busy this past week I haven’t had time to update FSB, my bad. My mum’s had an op on her foot so I’ve been rushed off my feet keeping the house spick and span while she’s resting up. This week has been a running week as a way of keeping my dogs entertained so I’ve done a 3km which I forgot to time (d’oh!) and a 2.5km in 34 minutes. When I was running several times a week I’d be doing 5km in 35 minutes, so although I’ve been keeping cardio up in the form of Insanity, I’m still well and truly lagging behind my former running self! My one dog, Atreyu, absolutely adores running so he kept up fine considering we’re both really out of practise but my other dog has never been enthusiastic. In the past he’s just leant against his collar and refused but this week he’s been really good and followed me, albeit not very fast.

If I’ve got time tomorrow, Dan and I will be weightlifting and I’ll also hopefully post my healthy fruit muffin recipe – well, if I can remember it!

So the day came a lot earlier than we’d planned but I am now in possession of Dan’s weights! With his labour-intensive job he doesn’t have the time or energy to work out currently – much to his frustration – so he asked if I wanted to bring the weights to my house early; is the Pope catholic? Does a bear crap in the woods? Okay… I think you get what I’m trying to say.

I bundled them in my car and when I got home I said to my mum, “I have great news, I can finally weight train at home!!” to which she replied, “The fact that you get excited about this is somewhat disturbing, if the hallway starts smelling like a gym i.e. your pits, I will be revoking your membership to this house” which made me laugh.

Even though it was the evening and I’m more of a morning work out person, I figured I wasn’t patient enough to wait to use them, so I thought to myself “I’ll just pick 3 simple exercises and do 3 rounds, it’ll be quick and easy”. Somehow, a supposed quick and simple session turned into an hour long routine, whoops. It is now apparent not only was I impatient, I also find it difficult to curb my enthusiasm.

It’s been 5 days since I got my tattoo and I was meant to leave it longer ’til I worked out, but I just couldn’t wait. I did weights rather than insanity to try and reduce sweating yet I still felt gross because of the grease-like lotion I have to keep on the tattoo until it’s fully healed. I went easy on myself and didn’t spend too long working out, just enough to get my muscles nicely warm and aching a little. Once the tattoo has fully peeled, which I imagine judging by what’s left will be tomorrow or Thursday, I’ll either do weights again or insanity before I return home for the weekend, where insanity will commence once more.

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Lucy

About my blog

My name's Lucy, I'm 21 years old and from the UK.
This is my online journal of my fitness progress, I will also be posting inspirational pictures, quotes, information, work outs, videos, health articles and recipes.
You can find more about me here.

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